Raspberry Filled Vanilla Cupcakes with Butter Cream Frosting

Okay I have not been much of a cupcake fan until TODAY. My cousin, Stephanie found these and we just HAD to try them. Cake part themselves... good. Raspberry filling... GREAT. Buttercream frosting... INCREDIBLE. This is my new go to cupcake recipe and I would recommend it to ANYONE.

French Vanilla Cupcakes
from TidyMom.net

1 box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe French Vanilla (this is my FAVORITE vanilla cake mix)

3 Large Eggs

1/2 cup butter, melted (use butter not margarine....trust me on this!)

1 cup of water

Directions

Melt the butter in the microwave.

Add cake mix, eggs and water to the butter in large bowl.

Mix on low for 1 min. Then mix on high for 1 min.

You will be amazed that your batter is nice and thick and creamy - not thin and runny like it is when you follow the box instructions.

Fill cupcake papers - tip: use an icecream scooper! - One scoop is just the right amount per cupcake!

Pop them in the oven on 350 for 20 minutes.

Let cool.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the raspberry filling

Raspberry Filling
2 full cups frozen unsweetened raspberries, thaw with 1/4 cup sugar (or thaw sweetened raspberries with out adding sugar, unsweeted was what I had on hand)

1/3 cup sugar

1-1/4 cups water*

6 Tbsp flour (or 3 T. corn starch - I didn't have corn starch)

1 tsp lemon juice

In a medium sauce pan, combine water*, sugar

, flour and lemon juice and mix well. If there is any juice in your raspberries, drain the juice and add to water = 1-1/4 liquid. (I didn't have much juice at all, but if you by sweetened raspberries, they may yield more sauce.)

Heat and stir until mixture boils and thickens.

Cool completely.

Stir in thawed raspberries.

Yields approximately 2 cups of filling.
(I made 1/2 of this recipe because I didn't want to fill all of my cupcakes.)

Filling your cupcakes

1. Bake cupcakes and cool completely
2. Cut out a small cone shaped section in the center of the cupcake
   
3. add raspberry filling to the hole
4. replace the tops (just do the best you can- they don't have to be perfect)
5. Now they are ready to frost.

Butter Cream Frosting
1 cup real butter (not margarine) *room temperature
1 cup vegetable shortening
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar
1/4 - 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
paste food coloring
Thoroughly cream butter and shortening . Beat in the vanilla. Add sugar, one cup at a time until blended. When the sugar is completely beaten in and the sides of the bowl are scraped down, add the whipping cream, beating at the highest speed until super fluffy, about one minute.

If you wish to add color to your frosting, like I did, use the gel paste food coloring. It's stronger and more vibrant. Add frosting to a pastry bag with your favorite tip and frost! I only filled 1/2 of my cupcakes, so I frosted the filled cupcakes in white frosting with sprinkles....the cupcakes with the pink and yellow frosting do not have filling.

Banana, Raspberry, and White Chocolate Chip Bread

Banana, Raspberry, and White Chocolate Chip Bread:

Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.

Combine the flours (I actually use all white flour and it still turned out great!), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. In another bowl, mix the eggs, bananas, vanilla yogurt, oil, and vanilla together until well combined. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet mixture until mixed. Fold in the white chocolate chips then add most of the raspberries and fold them gently into the mixture. Pour the batter into the loaf pan then push the remaining raspberries into the top of the loaf.

Bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes or until a tester comes out of the center clean. Let the bread cool on a rack for a few minutes before slicing, slathering with butter, and eating. Enjoy.